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Toronto Honda Indy: Great setting, family atmosphere, fast cars and lots of noise

Thousands of motorsport fans at Exhibition Place enjoyed perfect weather Saturday as they cheered on several races, including the IndyCar Series qualifying and NASCAR Pinty’s Series Grand Prix of Toronto.

Sipping on a Molson Canadian in Thunder Alley, American Javier Lopez laughs as he relates the story of asking his girlfriend to join him at his first car race — 2,700 kilometres away.

Instead of making a short 90-minute drive to the world-famous Circuit of Americas just north of their home in San Antonio, Texas, Lopez thought it might be fun to travel north — way north — to take in the Toronto Honda Indy.

“She knew I liked racing, so I just asked her if she would like to go,” recalled Lopez of his girlfriend, Catherine Siller, who he’s been dating for three months. “Toronto is a great setting. The town we come from is landlocked so we don’t have any lakeside views.”

Lopez and Siller were among thousands of motorsport fans enjoying perfect weather who descended on Exhibition Place Saturday to cheer on several races, including the IndyCar Series qualifying and NASCAR Pinty’s Series Grand Prix of Toronto.

Many more are expected Sunday for races all day, including the big one starting at 3:40 p.m. Spectators can expect more warm weather in the high 20s C, with a risk of a thunderstorm.

Javier Lopez (L) and Catherine Siller, made the trip from San Antonio, Texas, to Toronto just to see the Honda Indy. Lopez, an Indy racing fan, says he thinks it's funny that he had to come to Canada to see his first race in person. (Kenyon Wallace / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Ron Valois, of Peterborough, has been coming to Toronto's Indy since 1997. "It's the fastest racing sport there is," he says. (Kenyon Wallace / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

But a chance of rain won’t dampen the spirits of Ron Valois, of Peterborough, who has been coming to the Indy every year since 1997.

Sporting a Paul Tracy cap and an Indianapolis 500 shirt, Valois said he likes watching the drivers negotiate the challenging Honda Indy course, which takes drivers along Lake Shore Blvd. and a winding route through Exhibition Place.

“It’s exciting. It’s the fastest racing sport there is,” said Valois of car racing in general, noting that having Oakville’s James Hinchcliffe in the field gives fans a local boy to cheer on.

Kianna Walch, 6, of Brampton, holds up a pink model car her parents bought her at the Honda Indy. (Kenyon Wallace)

For six-year-old Kianna Walch, of Brampton, it was the pink Honda 2000 model car her parents, Moyston Walch and Nicole Walch, bought for her that made her day.

Or it could have been the blue and red snow cone she was crunching on in the sunshine amid the food trucks in Thunder Alley behind a spectator stand.

“It’s definitely a great family atmosphere and environment,” said mom Nicole. “A good way to spend a summer’s day.”

It was the family’s first time to see the Indy in person. Moyston said he’s been watching racing on TV for 10 years and was thrilled to be able to see the cars in person. “It’s the speed. Just being able to go that fast.”

For Torontonians Aroon Saini and his wife, Farah Saini, along with their niece, Aisha Albish, 9, and nephew Khaleel Albish, 12, the eardrum-busting decibels of the growling engines is what attracts them — the louder the better.

“I love the aspect of a powerful engine that a lot of people have put work into, the engineering, the research and development, the driver’s ability to control it,” said Aroon, a mechanic for Honda. “There’s nothing like having that much horsepower under you.”

Niece Aisha put it bluntly: “I like how it’s loud.”

Timothy Montgomery, a physics professor at Kent State University in Ohio, said he’s been coming to Toronto Indy for the past four years. He compared the atmosphere to that of the Indianapolis 500, which he has attended half a dozen times.

“In the States, people don’t behave as well as they do here. We enjoy the way the people treat us here,” said Montgomery. “I’ve always liked Toronto. It’s what the world should be.”

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